Daily Five: A New Town Councilor, School Building Updates And The Most Popular Books

1.  Today is Thursday, Aug. 16.  The National Weather Service predicts mostly cloudy skies, then gradual clearing and a high temperature of 80 degrees. There’s a 30 percent chance of showers before 8 a.m. Tonight will be mostly clear, with a low of 67 degrees.

2.  Karen Morton was sworn in as Town Councilor Wednesday, taking the seat vacated after O’Beirne is a Republican, and traditionally the council elects the Republican who ran for office most recently and was the highest vote getter from that party.

3.  The school department is moving ahead with several projects to prepare for start of school, according to an Aug. 10 memo by Interim Superintendent Randall Collins.

Some of the updates: The boilers at will be running by Sept. 10; the school-based health center at is finished; work to restore the tennis courts at will be done shortly; and the district is about 85 percent finished with painting the insides of the schools.

4.  Groton Public Library keeps track of the most popular books checked out by the public and has Groton’s top ten list in its August newsletter. Perhaps you’ve read one. Here are the titles for the last six months (January to June):

1. Caleb’s Crossing, Geraldine Brooks

2. The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

3. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Jonathan Safran Foer

4. The Help, Kathryn Stockett

5. The Drop, Michael Connelly

6. Kill Shot, Vince Flynn

7. V is for Vengence, Sue Grafton

8. Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins

9. Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins

10. Explosive Eighteen, Janet Evanovich

5.  The Groton Senior Citizens Club 55 will host a Hawaiian Luau from 11:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the senior center. The cost is $12 for members, $14 for guests, and includes a menu of fruit salad, chicken Oahu, Hawaiian pulled pork and other dishes. For more information, call (860) 441-6785.